Drayage Brokersin Philadelphia, PA

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Last year, "A Philly Special Christmas," the Christmas album from the Philadelphia Eagles, was not only an absolute holiday hit - it was also hard to get.

So heads up, Birds fans! The presale for their second Christmas album, '"A Philly Special Christmas Special" begins on Friday.

In preparation, Australia native and Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Jordan Mailata stopped by the 6abc studios to give us sneak peek at what volume two has in store, while treating us to a special holiday performance.

Mailata was joined by West Philly songstress Lady Alma as the pair prepared to record their duet for this year's 6abc Dunkin' Thanksgiving Day Parade.

"We don't have Thanksgiving back home," Mailata says of spending the holiday with us, "So this is an honor and a privilege."

Lady Alma is an Eagles fan and says she's thrilled to share the stage with Mailata.

"He brings that energy," she said. "Jordan Mailata is a vibe."

Their song "Merry Christmas Baby" was on last year's hit holiday album, "A Philly Special Christmas."

"People went crazy for it," Mailata says. "We definitely set the bar low, to be honest, but we should have known that the fans and the people of Philly would get behind our calls and raise a little money."

Sales from the first Christmas album raised over one million dollars for local charities. Now, the Birds are back with a sophomore album.

RELATED: Philadelphia Eagles to release second holiday album 'A Philly Special Christmas Special'

This time, Mailata, Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson star in some throwback Claymation skits and even have their own action figures.

Mailata says they felt they had to kick it up a notch for this second album by bringing in some big star power.

"I grabbed the mic, and went to sing and couldn't sing," Mailata laughs about his duet with Patti LaBelle. "That was a first, but we got through it in the end."

Jason Kelce's brother, Travis Kelce, is also on board. Mailata laughs at rumors that Travis Kelce's girlfriend, Taylor Swift, is making an appearance.

"Who's that?" he laughs, "Never heard of her!"

Just kidding. Mailata is a Swiftie and like Swift, music found Mailata at a young age. He says he was a singer first and a football player second.

"I've always been singing. Music was my first love before sports. For me, this is no new territory. This is familiar territory for me. It's just like breathing," says Mailata.

The first single on "A Philly Special Christmas Special" is a cover of Mariah Carey's modern holiday classic "All I Want For Christmas Is You."

While preorders begin on Friday, November 3, the full album will be available to stream on December 1.

And you can watch Jordan Mailata and Lady Alma perform in the 6abc Dunkin' Thanksgiving Day Parade, starting at 8:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning, right here on 6abc.

For more information about "A Philly Special Christmas Special" and to preorder the album, CLICK HERE.

Have a question about Philly’s neighborhoods or the systems that shape them? PlanPhilly reporters want to hear from you! Ask us a question or send us a story idea you think we should cover.

The city is again trying to sell the Logan Triangle, an infamous 35-acre slice of North Philadelphia that’s sat undeveloped for decades.

The sprawling city-owned site — bounded by Louden Street, 6th Street, Roosevelt Boulevard, and 11th Street — was once home to nearly 1,000 homes. In the late 1980s, the city began demolishing them because the properties were sinking into the unstable soil beneath them and had been for decades, so much so that the front steps of some houses were higher than their front porches.

Fast forward, and the grassy lots comprising the triangle remain an eyesore despite several planning studies, countless community meetings, and at least three development proposals from high-profile companies, including Bart Blatstein’s Tower Investments.

In 2015, the Goldenberg Group inked a deal with the city to redevelop the troubled site. But the developer’s plan, a basketball recreation center with a library and computer lab, fizzled out — leading the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation to announce a new request for proposal this week.

A spokesperson for Goldenberg did not return multiple requests for comment.

‘A special kind of developer’

The Logan Triangle is zoned CMX-3, which allows for commercial mixed-use developments of up to five stories. Single-family homes are prohibited. Apartments are not.

The request for proposal, or RFP, released by PHDC does not specify what should be built. The city does want proposals to be “beneficial for the community” and have “strong urbanism and architecture,” according to the 16-page document.

It also encourages developers to consider the goals and recommendations detailed in the Logan Neighborhood Plan, completed a few years after the city secured control of the vacant lots through eminent domain.

The plan, which covers blocks beyond the triangle, calls for investing in affordable housing, streetscape improvements, building neighborhood pride, and transforming the triangle into a community asset with regional impact, among other goals.

The deadline to submit a bid is January 11, 2024. The city hopes to select a developer the following month, but it could be years before the site is put into productive use.

“I’m committed to making sure that a quality development that falls in line with what the community wants is in place at that site,” said City Councilmember Cindy Bass, whose district contains the triangle.

The triangle may not be an easy sell.

As it stands today, only about half of the Logan Triangle is suitable for redevelopment. The center of the site is particularly unstable.

That means interested developers would likely need to remediate the land before starting construction.

There is no public funding attached to the RFP to help cover that upfront cost, requiring applicants to line up those dollars before submitting their bid. That price tag, expected to be in the millions, would be on top of any private construction loans a developer takes out to complete the project.

Developers would also need a zoning variance if they want to build something larger than what regulations permit, a process that requires approval from either City Council or the Zoning Board of Adjustment.

Wait and see

Mohamed Rushdy, managing partner of the Riverwards Group and vice president of the Building Industry Association of Philadelphia, said it will take a “special kind of developer” to write the triangle’s next chapter.

“I think you’re gonna get responses, but I don’t think you’re gonna get a dozen responses,” said Rushdy of the RFP process.

The homes that once populated the Logan Triangle were built in the 1920s on top of a creek bed filled with ash and cinder. In the following decades, the mixture behaved like slow-moving quicksand, causing the homes to sink.

In 1986, a massive gas main explosion on Valentine’s Day revealed just how bad things had gotten. By the following year, the city started condemning properties and offering buyouts to residents of the Logan Triangle on a volunteer basis. A nonprofit, the Logan Assistance Corporation, was set up for the sole purpose of overseeing the process.

The work was projected to take three years. In the end, it took the better part of two decades, with the last family moving out around 2003.

The city rejected two development proposals before Goldenberg took on the project in 2015.

Neighbors learned in May that the company was walking away from the project.

Charlene Samuels, chairperson for the Logan Civic Association, said members of the development team told residents the company had struggled to secure enough funding.

There was little outrage — just disappointment over another setback.

“Sometimes you just get tired,” said Samuels.

Longtime resident Ernie Bristow said she remains optimistic that the triangle will see a new day. But the new RFP is just a piece of paper to her right now.

“It’s smoke and mirrors,” Bristow said. “Until we see them breaking ground, I don’t believe it.”

Samuels is of the same mind.

“I’m just gonna wait. I’m gonna sit back and wait,” said Samuels.

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Wide receiver A.J. Brown has been named the NFC Offensive Player of the Month for October after an absolutely scintillating five-game stretch during which Brown caught 40 passes for 700 yards and 5 touchdowns.

"A.J. has been on a tremendous tear the last couple games. He's obviously a great player. He's making the most of his opportunities when the ball comes his way. I would imagine that defenses start to even put a little bit more focus and attention on him. And once that happens, I think that's kind of the beauty of our offense is we do have guys who can make plays at a bunch of different spots," Offensive Coordinator Brian Johnson said. "For us achieving that balance of being able to use all five positional players in a manner that's contributing to the offense is obviously the ultimate goal and that can look a little bit different each and every week. So, fortunately for us, A.J. has been playing great and hopefully we continue on that path."

It's the latest in a season-long string of individual honors for the 7-1 Eagles and the first time an Eagle has been named the conference Player of the Month since linebacker Haason Reddick won in December/January of the 2022 season. Quarterback Jalen Hurts was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Month in September of 2022. It's the first Player of the Month award in Brown's Pro Bowl career.

Brown, of course, made NFL history on Sunday when he gained 130 receiving yards against Washington, marking the sixth straight game in which he gained at least 125 receiving yards.

In the five games in October, Brown just tore defenses up. Here are his numbers, game by game, in the 4-1 month for the Eagles:

October 1 vs Washington: 9 receptions, 175 yards, 2 touchdowns

October 8 at Los Angeles: 6 receptions, 127 yards

October 15 at Jets: 7 receptions, 131 yards

October 22 vs Dolphins: 10 receptions, 137 yards, 1 touchdown

October 30 at Washington: 8 receptions, 130 yards, 2 touchdowns

"You've got to be humble in this game. You've got to be able to prove it each and every week. That's what I'm trying to do," Brown said after Sunday's win at Washington. "I'm trying to come in and work and try to be better each and every day."

For the season, Brown has 60 receptions, 939 yards, and five touchdowns. He ranks fourth in the NFL in receptions, second in receiving yards, tied for sixth in touchdowns, second in first downs gained on receptions, and tied for third in receptions of 40-plus yards.

Brown is just the latest Eagle to be recognized for outstanding performance this season. Placekicker Jake Elliott won Special Teams Player of the Week in Weeks 1 and 4, running back D'Andre Swift was named Offensive Player of the Week in Week 2, Brown won NFC Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career for his output against the Dolphins, and, on Wednesday, Jalen Hurts was honored as the NFC Offensive Player of the Week following his four-touchdown performance in the come-from-behind win over Washington.

Brandon Biro will make his season debut on a line with Jordan Greenway and Tage Thompson.

PHILADELPHIA – Brandon Biro will make his season debut for the Buffalo Sabres against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday.

Biro was recalled from Rochester on Tuesday and practiced on a line with Jordan Greenway and Tage Thompson. The move was made in response to a lower-body injury to Zach Benson, who is considered week to week.

The game will air exclusively on MSG in the Buffalo broadcast market with pregame coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m. Out-of-market fans can watch the national broadcast on TNT. The puck drops at 7.

Here are five things to know.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will start for the second straight game after making 23 saves for his first career shutout against Colorado on Sunday. He will be backed up by Devon Levi, who will dress for the first time since Oct. 19 due to a lower-body injury.

The Sabres held an optional skate and did not run line rushes.

Biro joined the Sabres organization as an undrafted free agent out of Penn State University in March 2020 and has since developed into one of Rochester’s top offensive producers, culminating in career-high totals in goals (16) and points (51) in just 49 games last season.

He played one NHL game – in Montreal in February 2022 – and has merited additional recalls with his performance in Rochester, but injuries prevented the timing from working in his favor.

“This is a guy that we multiple times last year were ready to call him up and he was not healthy,” Sabres coach Don Granato said.

Biro’s presence on a line with Thompson is a credit to how highly he is thought of as a playmaker not only by the Buffalo coaching staff, but also by the other players in the Sabres’ dressing room.

“Biro helps us because he adds some skill, some playmaking ability,” Granato said. “He’s just a very intelligent and slippery hockey player. He played with different guys in camp. Every guy he played with there was chemistry because he has a real good hockey sense.

“So, I’m excited that we have an opportunity to have a little bit more depth because of his creativity. He’s earned a lot of respect from that locker room with what I’ve said about his characteristics of having hockey sense. Guys want to play with him. As a coach, you’re always gauging that.”

Rasmus Dahlin enters tonight riding a career-best eight-game point streak, including goals in each of the last two games. He’s far from alone:

Granato felt the Sabres played to their up-tempo, aggressive identity in their win over the Avalanche. They’ll look to replicate that Wednesday seeking consecutive wins for the first time this season.

“That was the challenge to our guys, was to start stringing some good games together,” Granato said. “It’s more about playing well and good. The results follow that. We need to come out tonight adamant about winning a hockey game. That’s what we’re looking for.”

The Flyers have lost four of their last five games after starting the season 3-1-0, though Granato cautioned against underestimating the John Tortorella-coached team.

“They’re always ready to play, they’re always ready to compete,” Granato said. “They’re definitely better than they were a year ago and playing much more assertive and, I guess, better as a group, as a team. It will be a challenge tonight for us.”

Travis Konecny leads Philadelphia with eight goals and 11 points. Carter Hart will start in goal.

Michelle Zauner has been on such a magical run with Jubilee, the joyful 2021 album by her band Japanese Breakfast, plus the runaway success of her Crying in H Mart memoir, that it seems a legitimate question: Is she some kind of wizard?

She did dress up as one at the Fillmore Philadelphia on Tuesday night. For Halloween, and the final date of a Japanese Breakfast tour that has stretched over more than two years, the band members were all costumed as characters from The Lord of the Rings.

Zauner was Saruman, the white-robed, long-haired, bearded sorcerer played by Christopher Lee. The band was introduced as “Japanese Breakfast, my precious!” by surprise guest Saturday Night Live comedian Sarah Sherman (more on her later), outfitted as Gollum.

The set opened with “Paprika,” with Zauner taking to the stage with a walking staff in hand which she used to bang a gong illuminated by a circle of skulls. The Jubilee highlight track’s hook celebrates the spice of life with the declaration: “It’s a rush!”

It sure was. The nerdy LOTR presentation didn’t have any obvious connection to the music. But the playful staging — Zauner’s husband, guitar and keyboard player Peter Bradley, wore a towering pointy hat as Gandolf, and sax player Adam Schatz was a tree person — added to the special-occasion sense of the hometown show.

Four songs in, before the wistful “Kokomo, IN,” Zauner said: “I’ve already got a mouth full of hair.” She chided Bradley, er, Gandolf, for tossing aside his fake beard. The Bryn Mawr College graduate who made her indie rock entrée with Philly emo band Little Big League called the show “The Last Jubilee,” and said no discussion was needed in deciding where to close the tour.

“It had to be here,” she said. “We’ll always be a Philly band. We came up in this city. We will die in this city!” She added that Philadelphia “had so much to do with the musician I’ve become.”

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That progression was evident throughout a 90-minute, 20-song set that was generous in spirit and lovingly received by a largely uncostumed sold-out crowd.

There were two nods to Zauner’s Little Big League days. First was “Boyish,” a spiky, noisy song originally recorded by that band and then reborn as something more smooth and sophisticated on Japanese Breakfast’s 2017 album Soft Sounds From Another Planet.

Later, Zauner brought out her former bandmate Kevin O’Halloran — dressed as an elf, if my understanding of LOTR fashion is correct — for Little Big League’s chiming “Lindsey.” And since LBL bassist Deven Craige is a full-time member of Japanese Breakfast, that amounted to three-quarters of a Little Big League reunion.

The show displayed Zauner’s range by touching on her 2021 soundtrack to the video game Sable, with “Glider.” And it showcased her evolution as a narrative, non-autobiographical songwriter on eight songs from Jubilee, with her taking over lead guitar duties from Bradley on the lyrical, stretched out “Posing for Cars.”

The night was at its most ecstatic — complete with confetti cannons — with the set-closing, hyper-catchy crowd-pleaser, “Everybody Wants to Love You,” from Psychopomp, Japanese Breakfast’s 2016 debut.

That album marked the first time Zauner wrote about the death of her mother, Chongmi, the relationship that is central to the story about grief, food, and Korean identity told in Crying in H Mart.

The bestseller — currently No. 6 on the New York Times nonfiction paperback list — is being made into a movie, with no release date yet set. Zauner has written a screenplay, and The White Lotus actor Will Sharpe is directing.

» READ MORE: Michelle Zauner of Philly’s Japanese Breakfast has a new memoir born of grief and a new album full of joy

Tuesday’s show clearly carried emotional weight for performers and fans. It marks the end of one phase of Zauner’s career while pointing ahead to the next.

The new phase was teased with one brand-new song — the spare and lovely “Orlando” — with Zauner joking that it was from a forthcoming Japanese Breakfast album made up entirely of sea chanteys.

And then Zauner announced that she and Bradley are moving to Korea in 2024 “to write my next book and work on the album.” The next chapters from the musician and author are coming soon.

The show was opened by West Philly indie quintet Crooks & Nannies, with leaders Max Rafter and Sam Huntington switching off between singing out front and playing drums.

The duo, who grew up in upstate New York before moving to Philly a decade ago, pulled from their new album Real Life, their first in seven years. They were more compelling the noisier they got, particularly when Rafter — with a face-colored Frankenstein green — got skronky on the saxophone.

Sherman followed as an unannounced extra-special attraction. Her confrontational humor — which at times brought Andy Kaufman to mind — did not go over well at the Fillmore, however. It was daring: It takes some nerve to come to Philadelphia and trash Eagles fans and cheesesteaks. Her underwritten 20-minute set felt twice as long. She wore a clown suit but got few laughs.